Goosebumps Return to Fever Swamp
by meguhanu
Summary: Teenage sisters Skye and Courtney Anderson move with their dad to a new home. He has bought a foreclosed house on the edge of Fever Swamp. The girls are not happy about their new home, but unbeknownst to them there is more to the property than meets the eye. The property harnesses a dark secret. Something is coming, hunting. Something that will come for blood on the next full moon.
1. Chapter 1

Return to Fever Swamp

"What the hell dad seriously? I can't get a freaking signal anywhere!" cried a frustrated Courtney Anderson.

"There is hardly any service out here at all, honey," said Tom showing a smile to his 16 year old daughter from the driver's seat of his black 2016 SVU.

"You're moving us out to the boondocks," said Skye from the backseat.

She too was trying to get a signal from her cell phone from the rolled down window.

It was literally dead air. There was no sign of a radio tower. No signal; nothing; just miles and miles of pavement and trees, with the hot sun beaming down on the already hot vehicle.

"I'm sure your Tumblr, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook will be there when you can get back online. So until then, your cameras will work so take a lot of photos," said Tom, trying to put a positive image over a negative one.

Skye scoffed and gave up, laying her head down on the seatbelt, while her wild long red hair flew around in the dry air.

Skye looked up to the sky with her big green eyes and sighed heavily.

"Remind me why we couldn't stay where we were? Our lives were in Texas. Our friends, our hobbies, everything," she whined to her dad.

"I know honey, but we just couldn't afford it anymore," said Tom.

"Mom would have found us a way to stay," mumbled Courtney.

"Your mom was strong to the very end," said Tom, taking his daughters hand in his and squeezing it tight in reassurance.

Courtney smiled and returned the squeeze.

"Yeah," said Courtney in a melancholic tone.

"She was a lot like you girls. A fighter true and strong," said Tom.

"Tell that the cancer that killed her," said Skye killing the mood. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Shut up Skye!" yelled Courtney looking in the back seat of the car. She glared at her younger sister with her vibrant blue eyes.

"You shut up!" screamed Skye back to her sister. Now she was starting to get even madder than she was previously.

"Hey girls knock it off! That's enough. Both of you!" yelled Tom trying to get control of his daughters.

"Skye you know better than to speak about your mother that way. I never want to hear those words again, do you understand me young lady?" asked Tom.

Skye said nothing but just nodded her head up and down in acknowledgment.

Tom could see his daughters were having a tough time dealing with their mother's death, and now on top of the move, it didn't help the girls' situation.

"I know these last few months have been tough on all of us, but this is a new chapter on our lives. Think of it as an adventure," said Tom looking at his daughters and then back at the road.

"We have to start all over again in a new town and in a new school. We'll be the new kids in school. And almost at our senior year too," said Skye.

"Skye you're 15. I'm 16. We aren't seniors yet dad," said Courtney while she still stuck her phone out the window.

She growled in frustration as she still couldn't get a signal from her phone.

"This place better have some service once we get there. Are we almost there?" asked Courtney.

"Just up ahead on the left," said Tom.

"Where exactly are we anyway?" asked Skye.

"Well this is a new town in Somerset Florida. It's a house that needs a little fixing up so I figured we could fix it up together but for the time being it's livable," said Tom.

"Livable?" asked Courtney.

"Yeah well, it was a foreclosure and I got it at auction for a very good price," said Tom.

Then the father turned left and made his way down the dirt road.

They passed another singular house before stumbling upon their new one.

It was just as the girls imagined it to be. The house was covered in moss and vines.

It looked like no one had lived there in many many years.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" asked Courtney.

"Language," said Tom reprimanding his daughter.

Skye saw the two story house as well.

"I say the same as Court. Very rustic looking piece of crap. I hope the roof doesn't leak and that the AC in the house at least works," said Skye eyeing the house.

"The electric company is coming tomorrow to turn it on; but until then we can open the windows to air out the house," said Tom.

The SUV came to a parking stop and Skye was the first one out of the vehicle.

She looked around in absolute disgust.

She opened her arms and scoffed, flinging her red hair around her shoulders, turning towards her dad.

"What the hell were you thinking when you bought this shithole? Did you even see the place before you signed the papers? Look at this place! It's fucking Neibolt House!" screamed Skye.

"Skye look," said Tom, but Skye cut her dad off before he could get another word in.

"Really dad? You moved us to the middle of fucking nowhere?" asked Skye.

Tom sighed while approaching his daughter trying to calm her down.

"I thought you'd enjoy all the spacious room for your sports and running that you love to do. And I'd honestly thought you guys would have more of an open mind. You can't judge a place just based on looks. Besides maybe being offline will be good for you. You can see how we managed life outdoors in the 1990s," said Tom smiling.

Skye put her hands on her hips and bowed her head down.

"I'd rather spend the night in the sewer," whispered Skye to herself.

"Well watch out for Pennywise," said Courtney giggling, while carrying a box of her belongings in her arms.

"That's not funny," said Skye. She had a fear of clowns since she saw those films.

"Look girls, whether you like it or not, we are here in Somerset Florida. This is home now. I'm sorry that mom dying messed up your precious teen lives, but until you turn 18 you're stuck with me, so suck it up and make an effort," scolded Tom.

He slammed his hands on the car door and made his way to the front door of the house, the keys jingling in his hands.

He turned to face his daughters who followed him to the abandoned house.

"The moving vans will be here soon so try to act like mature young ladies when they get here. Help them out. We got a long day ahead of us," said Tom.

He unlocked the front door and walked into the house.

Skye and Courtney sighed and looked at each other.

"I'm willing to give it a try if you are," said Court.

She offered Skye her hand.

"Okay fine. For mom," said Skye taking Courtney's hand.

"For mom," said Courtney and the two walked to the big dilapidated house.

Skye glanced down and stopped walking.

"Whoa hey check this out," said Skye. She kneeled down in the dirt.

"What is it?" asked Courtney. She placed the box down on the bottom step of the porch.

"Really big fucking paw prints," said Skye.

Courtney leaned over her sister's shoulder to get a glance at the prints.

"Those are massive," said Courtney.

"They can't be more than a day or two old," said Skye outlining the print with her index finger.

She placed her hand over the print and the print was twice the size of her hand.

"How do you know that?" asked Courtney.

"Animal Planet duh!" said Skye rolling her eyes.

"What do you suppose they are? Maybe a bear?" asked Courtney.

"I've never seen prints like this in all my life, not even on any show on TV," said Skye.

"Well whatever it is, it's not here now. Come on lets go inside," said Courtney, trying to shrug it off.

She made her way inside but turned around when her sister wasn't following her.

"Skye come on!" she called to her sister.

"Yeah coming," said Skye.

She stood up, brushed off the dirt off her knees, but before she ascended the stairs, she looked back at the print and around the front of the property, from the moss covered trees, to the croaks and fog of the nearby swamp.

Skye couldn't put her finger on it, but something just felt off.

"Welcome to Fever Swamp," she said to herself before climbing the steps to the porch.


	2. Chapter 2

Return to Fever Swamp

Skye was scrubbing the upstairs windows and Courtney was mopping all the floors in the house.

And their dad was downstairs fixing the locks on the front and back door.

"How's it going up there girls?" he called to his daughters.

"Peachy keen!" yelled Skye, wiping the sweat off her forehead.

She stood up with her sweaty body; and threw the dirty rag in the now dirty bucket of water.

"Hey Courtney how's it going with you?" asked Skye, standing in the doorframe of her room.

She crossed her legs and saw her older sister come out of her room, covered head to toe in dust and dirt.

Her nice long blonde hair was now tied back in a ponytail and it was all in disarray.

Skye covered her mouth, stifling a giggle.

"Whoa. Who won the fight? You or the dirt?" asked Skye.

"It was a tie," said Courtney.

She leaned the mop against the wall and went over to her sister.

"Are we almost done?" asked Skye.

"Don't bet on it girls," said Tom who came up the stairs.

"Hey dad," said the girls.

"Nicely don't Skye," said Tom glancing in her room.

"And now only 5 rooms to go," said Tom.

"Bite me," said Skye.

"Skye," said Courtney hushing her little sister.

"Sorry dad. I'm just frustrated plus there is no water, so that means no shower. And there is no air conditioning either. So I'm a little moody and disappointed," said Skye.

She went to sit down on her bed, but the bed and frame were still on their way in the moving van that was bound to show up at any moment.

Skye instead opened the now clean window and let in some outside air into the room.

"Dad did you get the locks working?" asked Courtney.

Courtney and Tom made their way in to Skye's room.

"Yes I did. No one will be breaking into our house anytime soon," said Tom.

"Who'd want to?" asked Skye not bother to look at her dad.

"She's hot today with the snarky comebacks," said Courtney.

Then came a horn honk from outside.

Skye, Courtney, and Tom all looked outside and saw the big moving van pulling up to the house.

"Be right down!" called Tom waving from the window.

"Come on girls. Let's get the furniture in the house unless you want to sleep on the floor," said Tom.

Both girls ran past their dad, down the stairs, and out the front door.

"Hello!" called Skye and Courtney.

The van driver got out of the driver's seat and immediately unlocked the back of the truck.

"Let's get all this stuff out as soon as possible. I don't want to be here after dark," he said while fixing his hat on his head.

"Why? What happens after dark?" asked Courtney. He peaked her interest.

The driver started to hand her some boxes that contained pots and pans for the kitchen.

"This place is Fever Swamp right?" asked a second voice.

The girls turned and saw the passenger mover leaning against the side of the truck with a creepy smile on his face.

His large green eyes seemed as if they hid a dark secret. There was an eerie glare to them.

"Creeper much?" asked Skye as the driver handed Skye a box of her belongings.

"You've never heard the Legend of Fever Swamp?" asked the passenger.

"Michael," said the driver in a stern voice.

"What Dave? They might as well know if they are going to live here," said the man now known as Michael.

Courtney waited for her sister.

"What legend?" asked Skye.

She wanted to know.

"Skye come on. These guys are just pulling your leash. Besides they are on a time limit, so we need to get all of this in the house today," said Courtney.

Skye nodded at her sister and glared at the two men while they walked by.

"What legend?" asked Skye to Courtney?

"It's probably just some crackheads and junk pots that meet up in the swamp to get high and shit like that," said Courtney.

"That's just perfect. Now I'm going to worry about that tonight too," said Skye.

"What else would you have to worry about?" asked Courtney.

"Well doesn't this place seem odd to you?" asked Skye.

"This whole place screams odd," said Courtney.

"No not like that. Like something is just wrong here. I mean we don't know why this house isn't be lived in. Why has it sat abandoned all these long years?" asked Skye.

"You're overthinking the situation," said Courtney.

"Or maybe you're just under thinking it," replied Skye.

She followed Courtney into the house and put her box in her room before going down to get the next load of belongings.

The Andersons and the movers worked tirelessly for the next three hours to get all the furniture and clothing into the house.

Tom sighed heavily as he and Michael set the couch down in the living room.

"That's the last of it," said Michael.

"Well we better get going now," said Dave looking at his watch.

"It's almost sunset," said Dave giving Michael a strange look while nodding his head, as if giving him a secret signal.

"Yep it's time. It was nice meeting you Mr. Anderson. Have a safe night," said Michael.

He left the house in a hurry.

Before Dave left the house, he turned to Tom and gave him a stern look, his hand on the door.

"You need to listen and listen closely. Never go out into the swamp after dark. Lock your doors," said Dave.

"Okay," said Tom, obviously taken aback from what Dave just told him.

"Do you have any firearms Mr. Anderson?" he asked Tom.

"No," said Tom.

Now he was getting really frightened from this guys' attitude and body language.

"You might want to look into it," said Dave; almost as if he was warning him.

Then Dave left.

Tom closed the door and locked it tight behind Dave.

He turned and leaned against the doorframe.

"Freak am I right?" asked Skye.

Tom looked at his daughter.

"Did you hear all that?" asked Tom.

"It was as clear as day," said Skye.

She held a bottled water in her hand, drinking it down gulp after gulp.

"It's probably just the locals trying to scare us," said Tom.

"Yeah well its working. I don't feel very homely here," said Skye.

"Listen kiddo. The electric and water will be on tomorrow by noon. Once we have everything cleaned up and unpacked it'll begin to feel more safe and at home," said Tom.

He gave Skye a hug and then he smelled her hair and almost gagged.

"Whoa honey. Yeah we really need that water on as soon as possible," said Tom.

"Speak for yourself," said Skye giggling. She held her nose in disgust.

"Touché'" said Tom.

Tom left Skye in the living room while he went to start the cleaning process of the kitchen.

He began to unpack the pans and utensils.

Soon it was six o clock and the entire family was exhausted from a long day of traveling and unpacking.

Courtney had already fallen asleep in her room.

Skye was alone in her room upstairs.

She had lit some candles before she too laid down on her bare mattress.

She closed her eyes and listened to some music on her iPod which she had charged in the car.

There came a knock on the door and Skye peeked her eyes open.

"Come in," she said knowing it was her dad.

"Hey kiddo just popping in to say good night," he said.

"Courtney is already asleep," said Tom.

"Thanks dad. Sweet dreams," she said.

Tom went to close the door but stopped short.

He looked at Skye again, almost trying to apologize for the situation.

"I know that we are off to a rough start but in a few days all will seem normal," said Tom.

"Yeah I know," said Skye yawning.

"Alright; make sure all these candles are fully put out before you go to sleep okay?" asked Tom.

"They'll be out I promise," said Skye.

She held up some bottled water she took from the kitchen.

"Good night Skye. I love you," said Tom.

"Good night dad. I love you too," said Skye. She blew him a kiss as he closed the door.

Skye took off her earbuds, blew out all the candles, and closed her eyes, trying to let sleep take her.

Skye sighed as a gentle breeze blew into the room from her open window, almost comforting her.

Maybe it was even her mother's angel saying good night as well.

Skye smiled thinking about her mom.

Then something came in with the breeze which jolted Skye awake from any sleep she was bound to get.

It was a sound. A howling sound. And it was close by, almost right outside the house.

Skye was scared awake by the noise and it didn't sound human or animal. It sounded like a combination of both.

Skye jumped out of bed, closed the window shut, while looking around the dark yard.

There was nothing in her eyesight. She saw nothing but black and darkness.

But something was staring at her from within that darkness. And that something had large canines, big paws, and yellow eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. And it wasn't happy.


	3. Chapter 3

Return to Fever Swamp

Skye was awoken from her dreamless sleep by an ear piercing shrieking scream from outside.

She jumped herself awake and made for her window.

Bits of sunlight was draping in through the window. Skye opened the window and Skye stuck her head out into the morbid heat of the morning.

She peaked her head downwards and saw her sister kneeled in a clump of dirt, her face red and she couldn't talk. She looked like she had seen a ghost.

"Courtney? Did you scream? What's going on?" she asked her older sister who was covering her mouth and whimpering in shock.

"It's horrible! Mutilated!" cried Courtney. She was pointing towards the back of the house.

"Hang on! I'll be right down," said Courtney.

Courtney threw on some socks, sneakers and some jean shorts on herself, and put her phone in her back pocket; before she left her room and ran to the bottom of the stairs.

She banged the front door open, and ran to her sister's side.

"What's wrong? What is it?" asked Skye.

She consoled her older sister, who was almost in tears.

"Around the corner. The back of the house! There!" she cried pointing her finger.

"Stay here," said Skye.

"No! Skye! Don't look! It's awful!" said Courtney begging her sister not to see the gruesome sight that laid around the corner.

"I think I can handle it," replied Skye.

Skye stood up, and carefully stepped around the back of the house. And there she saw it.

"Oh my God," cried Skye. She gagged and put her hands over her mouth to keep from throwing up. The stench of death was overwhelming.

It was a body of a German Shepard dog. And it was torn apart; gutted.

Despite the smell and sight, Skye looked closely at the body.

The blood was coagulated already, so the dog had been dead for some time.

She knew this body wasn't here yesterday, and if the dog was attacked wouldn't they have heard the squeals and growls from inside the house?

Skye saw enough and made her way back to her sister.

Courtney was rocking herself back and forth on the steps to the house, trying to calm herself down.

"Courtney, hey are you okay?" she asked her sister.

Skye sat down next to her sister and put her arm around her shoulders.

"What could have done that to a sweet innocent dog?" asked Courtney.

Skye sighed.

"I don't know right now," lied Skye.

Skye had a thought of what could have killed the dog, but for now she kept that information to herself. She needed proof.

"Here, look. I'll tell dad, while you go and get some breakfast," said Skye.

"Seeing that mutilated body kind of killed my appetite," said Courtney.

"Chew some gum and that'll help calm you down," said Skye.

"Yeah right," said Courtney.

Skye didn't see their truck.

"Dad go into town?" asked Skye.

"Yeah he said he'd be back in a couple hours for when the electricians and water department come," said Courtney.

"Okay here. Go inside and calm down," said Skye.

Courtney smile to herself.

"Thanks little sis," said Courtney. She gave her sister a hug before closing the door to the house.

"I'll take care of the body," said Skye.

Skye went to the tool shed and grabbed a shovel to bury the body.

She also took out her phone. She needed to get photos for proof. The body would soon stink to high heaven and bring out God knows what kind of animals from the swamp to feast upon the remaining flesh.

Skye then proceeded to bury the body of the dead dog.

After a few minutes the body was now in the ground.

Skye was drenched in sweat but still clasped her hands together and said a small prayer for the poor animal.

Then she heard a horn honk.

Skye jumped a little and then went around the corner to meet her dad and the repairmen as well.

"Hey dad! You missed some excitement," said Skye.

"Later Skye. First we need to get the water and electricity going. We all need a shower," said Tom.

"But dad this is important!" said Skye, opening her phone photo gallery.

"Skye please we still have a lot of work to do," said Tom, dismissing his daughter's words.

"Dad we found a dead gutted dog behind the house!" yelled Skye, getting her dads attention along with the repairmen.

"You what?!" asked Tom, looking at the photo.

"Something came into our yard and left a small 'welcome to the neighborhood' gift for us!" yelled Skye.

"A German Shepard," said Tom.

"Hey wait a second, there is a family down the road whose German Shepard went missing. His name was Sarge," said the man from the water department.

"Sorry to say, but I found him and buried him," said Skye.

"Is this a normal thing?" asked Tom to the worker.

He gave Skye his phone back.

"Lots of small animals go missing around here. That's why no one really gets pets. They all seem to mysteriously disappear," said the worker.

"Or they turn up dead," said the electrician worker, making his way into the conversation.

"What exactly is going on around here?" asked Skye.

"It's the Curse of Fever Swamp," said another water worker.

An eerie fog started to settle on the house. The sun was starting to be blocked by some dark clouds.

"Curse? Or Legend?" asked Skye, looking up to the cloudy gray sky.

Both workers looked at each other with questionable looks, like they all knew a secret. And they didn't want to say it.

"Alright look here. We don't have time for curses or legends. We have to get the water and electric working today," said Tom ending the conversation.

"But dad! There is something going on here!" yelled Skye.

"Excuse us for a second. You guys can start on the house. The electric box is around there," said Tom pointing towards the side of the house

Tom grabbed Skye by her arm and dragged her over towards the front porch.

"Look Skye, I'm sorry you had to find a body of a dead dog, but it could have been anything that killed it. Let it go," said Tom.

"But dad," whined Skye wanting to protest.

"Skye that is enough. You're making a mountain out of a molehill," said Tom.

"Dad seriously! I'm a little scared!" cried Skye.

"Look the dog was left behind the house right? We didn't hear anything last night, so maybe the dog was injured and made its way to the house and died. Maybe some animal found the body and decided to eat it," said Tom.

"That doesn't explain the howling I heard," said Skye.

"Dogs howl Skye. And bark too," said Tom. He dismissed his daughter's wild fantasies.

"Now go inside and please help with the unpacking. And get the vacuum out so we can use it in an hour or so," said Tom.

"Dad! You're not listening to me! This so unfair!" yelled Skye in protest.

"Skye inside now!" yelled an angry Tom.

He pointed to the house.

Skye kicked the dirt and growled in frustration.

"Mom would have listened to me," mumbled Skye while making her way inside the house.

"Skye," said tom with a dad tone to the voice.

"I'm going," said Skye with her head down, before she opened and slammed the door behind her in anger.

Courtney was in the kitchen unpacking the utensils and plates.

"What was that about?" asked Courtney.

"Nothing," lied Skye.

Skye grabbed the vacuum cleaner and waited for the electricity to come on.

"It should be on soon," said Courtney.

"Something killed that dog. It wasn't there yesterday," said Skye.

"Are you going to play detective?" asked Courtney.

"Once we get WIFI I'm hitting Google to see what is up with this place," said Skye.

"Or you could go old school and hit the local library," said Courtney.

"Town is miles away. Besides looks like there is a storm coming in. I can't get there with dads' truck. I only have my permit. Besides he would know I took the truck," said Skye.

"Bike it," said Courtney.

Skye looked at her sister then outside at the sky.

"I think it has to wait Court," said Skye.

There was a distant sound of thunder in the distance.

"Don't wait too long," said Courtney.

A few hours passed and Skye and Courtney were almost left in the dark from the freak thunderstorm that had come.

"Well at least the roof is holding up," said Courtney.

She didn't have to put out any pans to catch water.

"That's one thing around here that seems to be working," said Skye.

Just then the lights flickered on and off and then soon the lights had come on and stayed on.

"We have electricity!" called a happy Courtney. She twirled in delight.

"Finally," said Skye.

She left the living room and went upstairs to her room.

The first thing she did was plug in her dying phone and her laptop, which soon buzzed to signal they were charging.

Skye looked out her window. It was beginning to rain.

"I hope the workers can get home in this. It looks like a bad storm is really going to hit us hard," said Skye.

"Skye! Please come down here! We need you!" called Tom.

"Coming dad!" called Skye.

She came down the stairs and saw her dad and Courtney on the couch resting.

"Hey we got lights. The water?" asked Skye.

"It should be coming on in a few minutes. The guys are in the basement working on it; making sure the pipes are still in good shape," said Tom.

"And the other workers?" asked Skye.

"The electricians already left," said Tom.

Courtney raised herself from the couch and made her way upstairs.

"Damn phone. It died a while ago. Need to charge it," said Courtney said wiggling it in the air in front of her face.

"Be right back," said Courtney.

"Courtney…" said Skye encouraging her sister to take her seriously.

"Come on Skye. This is real life. Not a horror film. I'll be fine," said Courtney.

The kitchen sink came to life and sputtered out some rusty water, scaring Skye half to death.

"God that scared me," said Skye. She had her hand over her chest. She almost had a heart attack.

She went over to the sink and turned off the water.

She looked outside and then she saw something bolt across the yard. It was big and moving fast.

Skye screamed.

"Dad!" she called.

She ran to her father and hugged him. He body was shaking.

"Skye what's wrong?" asked Tom.

"Something big just ran across the yard!" she said pointing to the front door, which was open a crack.

"Shit," said Skye.

She broke free from her dad and shut the door, locking it tight.

She put her back on it holding it shut.

"Skye you're overreacting. It was probably just your imagination. You're overtired and restless," said Tom.

"I know what I saw dad!" screamed Skye.

"Wait are the water workers still here?" asked Skye.

"They should be," said Tom.

"Shit!" said Skye.

Then the sounds of screams came from below the house.


	4. Chapter 4

Return to Fever Swamp

Skye and her father were now hearing screaming come from the basement.

Skye jumped and grabbed her dads arm.

"Why are they screaming?" asked Skye.

Tom grabbed a flashlight and ran to the basement door, slamming it open.

He shined it down the rickety stairs, looking for the water workers.

"Are you guys ok down there?" he called to the darkened cellar.

A worker appeared in the light.

He smiled waving signaling they were fine.

"Yeah sorry. We were inspecting your pipes when we got an unexpected visitor," said one of the workers.

He came up the stairs and in his hands he held a corn snake.

Skye smiled, putting her hand over her heart to calm herself down. She breathed in through her nose then out through her mouth.

"Oh thank God. I thought you guys were getting attacked," said Skye.

"No. this little guy is nonpoisonous," said another worker coming up behind his coworker.

He chuckled to himself, while putting his hand on his bosses' shoulder.

"He's cute no?" asked the worker.

Skye nodded her head. He was pretty cute.

"This little bugger was taking shelter down here. He must have slithered in and gotten stuck," the worker said while the snake slithered from his right hand to his left.

"Skye why don't you take him outside and set him free?" asked Tom.

"Not after what I just saw running across the yard?" asked Skye.

She took the snake in her hands and frowned.

She looked outside into the now gray and rainy outdoors.

It was eerie out there. And she was scared.

"Dad can I please just set him free from the porch instead?" asked Skye.

"Skye you're letting your imagination run wild. Whatever you saw could have been a wild boar or a dog," said Tom.

The workers had now come in from the basement and all were looking at each other weird.

"What exactly did you see?" asked one of the workers.

Skye looked at him. Maybe now someone would believe her.

"It was huge and black. It was so fast. It was just a big black mass," said Skye.

Tom put his hand over his head in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry guys. My daughter has a very active imagination," said Tom.

"Imagination is always a good thing to have," said the worker.

He took off his hat and wiped away the gathering sweat off his forehead.

Skye looked from outside to the snake in her hands.

"Okay I'll set him free; as long as you leave that door open so I can come in fast," said Skye.

"Go Skye," said Tom.

He unlocked the front door and opened it wide for Skye to go out.

Skye took a deep breath and ran outside to the porch, jumped the stairs and ran to the edge of the swamp.

The rain pummeled the small girl, blinding her vision.

Skye slipped in the mud and fell on her side.

She groaned in disgust, but was on alert and looking everywhere for that creature she saw.

Skye opened her hands and let the snake slither off back home.

As soon as she did that, Skye crawled out of the mud and got back on her feet, but not before her eye caught something in the mud.

It was a paw print. It was huge and it was fresh.

Skye kneeled down and put her hand over the print and she started to shake.

It was the same shape and pattern as the one she had seen near the house when they first arrived.

She eyed the pattern and the paw prints led right into the swamp.

Skye heard guttural growling coming about seven to eight feet away from her. She wasn't alone.

Skye squinted her eyes as she saw something hunched down, something big and black, and it was growling at her.

"Oh hell no! Oh shit! Oh fuck!" screamed Skye.

She turned and ran back to the house, slipping slightly in the mud, but she held her ground.

She didn't even notice the water workmen crew had already left, leaving just her, her dad and her sister at the mercy at whatever this monster was.

Skye ran back to the house, and bounded her way up the front porch, with slamming the front door behind her and locking it tight.

"Dad I was right. There is something out there. It's massive. I saw it!" screamed Skye.

"Skye please. We got water so please just go upstairs and take a shower then go to bed," said Tom.

He glanced at his daughter's state.

"And please make sure you use plenty of soap," said Tom.

"Dad why aren't you listening to me?" complained Skye. She was frustrated beyond belief.

"Because what you're saying makes no sense. It's just an animal. And as soon as it realizes we are here to stay, it'll go further into the swamp and it'll leave us alone," said Tom.

"God damn it dad!" yelled an angered Skye.

"Skye just go upstairs!" yelled Tom. He was getting sick and tired of his daughter's accusations.

"If we die, I'm blaming you!" screamed Skye pointing at her father.

She banged her feet up the stairs towards the bathroom.

She was so mad and full of rage, she wanted to slam her fist against the bathroom mirror, but instead she took a towel and screamed into it, muffling the loud sound.

Courtney leaned against the doorframe after she heard Skye yelling.

"Did you see something again?" asked Courtney.

"You saw the dead dog as clear as day today," said Skye.

"Yes I did," said Skye.

"Tell me what animal can do that to a huge dog besides another canine?" asked Skye.

"That I can't," said Courtney.

Skye closed the door while stripping off her wet and muddy clothes.

Courtney leaned against the closed door while continuing to talk to her sister.

"There is something more going on here," said Courtney.

"You believe me right?" asked Skye while she took down her hair, ready to give it a nice thorough wash.

"Of course I do. I can sense it too. There is something bad, evil, here and I want answers just as badly as you do. But hey listen, even though we have electricity we don't have WIFI. Tomorrow I'll stay with dad while you go into town to do some research on this place," said Courtney.

"We will do just that. Now I have to get all this sweat and mud off me," said Skye.

"Don't take it all. I have to shower too," reminded Courtney.

Skye started the water and sure enough; water had come up from the pipes and spurted out in the shower. It took a while for the warm water to kick in but as soon as it did, Skye took a nice hot relaxing shower to calm her nerves.

Courtney was soon in the shower after her sister while Skye was in her room, making sure her phone was fully charged just in case of an emergency tomorrow.

Skye kept her buck knife close to her that stormy night.

Skye stood near the window, keeping an eye out for that creature that was clearly going to make itself known soon.

"You're not going to get my family," said Skye to the window.

Tom was the last to shower and the lights had been flickering for most of the night.

The entire household was locked up tighter than a coffin. Skye was very much on alert but was also so scared.

Her father didn't believe her so she had to step up and take control of the situation and the first being to keep her family safe.

First thing in the morning she would head to the local library and talk to some of the locals to try and get some answers.

IN the meantime, she had begged Courtney to spend the night in her room.

Courtney did so because she was terrified as well. Both teen girls were asleep on the double bed.

All Skye could think about was when that THING would break down the door and tear her family to pieces. It was powerful enough for sure, but what exactly was it? What kind of animal was she dealing with?

She just wanted daybreak to come fast.

Morning did come fast and Skye was up at seven o clock.

She quickly and quietly got out of bed without waking her sister.

She rushed a white tank top on with some jean shorts and some converse sneakers, then she unbraided her hair.

She unplugged her phone and jammed it into her back pocket alone with a small army knife.

While she made her way down the stairs she checked all the windows and doors for anything out of the ordinary.

Thankfully, there was no sign of anything out of place and no sign that anything had tried to come inside the house.

Skye went to the kitchen and made herself some raisin toast before going outside to get her ten speed bike to ride into town.

Skye left a note for her sister and dad telling them where she had went.

Once she hit the main street she pedaled with all her might to town.

Unbeknownst to Skye, Courtney watched her sister pedal to the road and disappear in between the trees.

"Courtney are you awake?" asked Tom who knocked on the door to the other room.

Courtney jumped up.

"In here dad," said Courtney unlocking Skye's door and seeing her dad stand in the hallway.

"Why are you in Skye's room?" asked Tom.

"Skye was scared so I spent the night in here with her. Dad she's really trying to tell you something is not right with this property," said Courtney.

"Oh Court please don't you start," said Tom.

Courtney sighed.

Tom looked around and didn't see his other daughter.

"Where is your sister?" asked Tom.

"She went into town," said Courtney.

"She's chasing a fairytale," said an annoyed Tom.

"Dad just let her go and she'll be home soon anyway then you can ground her okay?" asked Courtney.

"Alright come on downstairs once you're dressed. You can help me around the house," said Tom

"Gotcha dad," said Courtney saluting her father.

Courtney turned her back and took out her phone. She had forgotten to charge it last night and now she was running low on battery.

Courtney went to the window and sighed.

"Skye please hurry," said Courtney.

Skye pedaled as fast as her tiny muscles could go.

The warm breeze slammed her in the face while her body poured and pumped sweat out of her.

Skye stopped on the side of the road to catch her breath.

She was completely alone in the road.

Skye didn't like the silence. She looked around and all she saw was trees blowing in the wind.

There was no sounds of insects and there were no birds chirping either, which was unusual, especially in a swamp.

Then Skye heard a twig snap to her left. It came from in the trees.

"Hello?" she asked.

There was another snap, this time it was closer.

"I'm out of here," Skye said to herself. Then she pedaled hard and fast towards town hoping whatever was making those sounds wasn't following her.


	5. Chapter 5

Return to Fever Swamp

Skye had pedaled as hard as she could into town. It took a while to get there, and as soon as she saw the tall buildings of the town, and left the swamp behind, she sighed a huge sigh of relief.

"Finally," she heaved, trying to catch her breath.

Her calf muscles in her lower legs were on fire from the pumping of the ten speed bike.

Stopping to catch her breath, she looked around for a drinking fountain.

When she finally found one, it looked like the moss and fungi from the swamp were living in it.

She felt that everywhere she turned, everywhere she looked, it reminded her of Fever Swamp.

It was stalking her just as that creature was.

The thought of it turned her stomach as did looking at the centipede crawling out of the mouth spicket to the fountain.

"Oh fuck! Gross. That's so unsanitary," said Skye, abandoning her thirst for her health instead.

She covered her mouth in disgust, and instead went into the library which was a few buildings away.

Parking her bike, she went into the building and right into the cool air condition that welcomed her like an old friend.

She looked around at the place and she saw an elderly librarian behind the desk. She looked to be in her 70s.

She was hunched over, but saw Skye come over to the desk. She eyes the young girl with her brilliant blue eyes hidden behind large black framed glasses that looked to be too big for her face.

"Hello dear, can I help you with something?" she asked in her gentle tone of voice.

Skye smiled.

"Yes. I need some historic advice on my new home and surrounding area," said Skye.

"This way," said the elderly woman, leading Skye to the basement where the historic records were kept.

It was colder as the women made their way further into the basement.

The librarian had Skye take a seat while she went to the back to find the records.

"Where is it that you live honey?" she asked Skye.

"I live on the edge of Fever Swamp. The address is 2266 Den's Lane," said Skye remembering the address.

Skye saw the librarian freeze in place. She turned to Skye and removed her glasses.

"Did you say 2266 Den's Lane?" she asked Skye.

"Yes why?" asked Skye. She was now spiked with curiosity.

"My dear, that isn't the place where you want to live. No one goes to that area of town. Not since 1998," said the librarian.

"What happened in 1998?" asked Skye.

"It was awful it was. I remember it like it was yesterday," said the librarian.

She took a bunch of old newspapers from a file drawer and gave it to Skye.

Skye accepted the stack of papers and right on the front page was a huge print that read, "MASSACRE AT FEVER SWAMP."

Next to the headline was a photo of police cruisers and firemen wheeling out bodies from the house that Skye now lived in.

The librarian sat next to Skye who started to read the article.

"There was a family who lived in that house. A man, his wife and two children. They were not locals. They only had just moved in. The parents were scientists who brought some deer from Africa to adapt to the swamp. They were not in the home for a week when they were all killed by something," said the librarian.

"You mean 'someone' said Skye," looking up from her reading hoping she misheard her.

"No my dear. _Something_ ," corrected the librarian.

"Something not human?" asked Skye.

The librarian shot Skye a wise old glare.

"You know as well as I do what lurks in that swamp. My advice to you is to get your family out before it gets you," said the librarian.

"What happened here?" asked Skye.

"A few nights before the massacre, the deer and family were attacked by a wolf like creature; at least this is what I heard from the crazies ion this town," said the librarian.

She got up from the table and crossed her arms, her back to Skye.

"The family all survived that night. But the next door neighbor, Will Blake, was never seen again from that night on. He was young too. He was 16," said the librarian.

"What happened next?" asked Skye.

"The son of the scientists, Grady, swore that Will was a killer. He had killed the deer that they had brought over. The dad was out of the house and in town doing some errands. The daughter Emily had just gotten home when she was attacked. But she escaped. Her and her mother barricaded themselves in the barn, so that Will couldn't get to them. But eventually he went after the son, who was in the swamp looking for his lost dog," said the librarian.

Skye was reading the paper and listening to the librarian talk at the same time.

"Grady too survived after he fought Will off. He said he pushed him down a hill and that the swamp had claimed his life," said the librarian.

"What would cause Will to go after the family?" asked Skye.

"Who knows my dear? Maybe he was a sociopath who didn't like strangers," stated the librarian.

"So if Will was claimed by the swamp, and he died, who killed the family?" asked Skye.

"This is where it gets questionable," said the librarian.

"You see, the family all survived Will and his rampage, but a few weeks later the son Grady was heard howling at a full moon from his balcony by his sister one night," said the librarian.

"Okay so Grady was victim turned killer? And why would he howl?" asked Skye.

"I don't know. Legend always tell that a full moon can drive the sanest man to his worst; especially in the olden days," said the librarian in a deeper tone of voice.

"You see Grady was swearing that Will was a werewolf of all things unimaginable," said the librarian softly chuckling to herself.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" asked Skye. She jolted up from her seat. She had her hands over her head in disbelief.

"Yes my dear a werewolf. How crazy does that sound? But if Will was a werewolf, and Grady fought him, Grady would have no chance of surviving against such a creature. But his dog Vandal had come to the rescue and fought off the werewolf, but not before Grady could get a scratch on him," said the librarian.

"But if he did…I mean this sounds like utter bullshit! It's like a plot for a horror film!" yelled Skye.

She couldn't believe what she was learning.

Was Fever Swamp really haunted by a FUCKING WEREWOLF?! THEY DIDN'T EXIST! IT WAS JUST A FOLKLORE TALE!

"Okay so just for the sake of sounding like a complete loon, what if this creature thing that is howling and leaving mutilated dogs at my house, really is a werewolf? They can only be killed by a silver bullet right?" asked Skye.

"That's the legend," replied the librarian.

Her fingernails had started turning into razor sharp claws at this point and her face was turning wolf like. Her clothes were being ripped and Skye was completely unaware of what was transforming right behind her.

"Why would this creature or whatever it is be after us? We didn't do anything!" yelled Skye.

"But you did didn't you my dear? You took his home," said the librarian.

"Holy shit! So you think Grady is the werewolf and it was him who murdered his entire family?" asked Skye.

"Well not all of the family was killed," said the librarian.

She was half transformed by now and she slowly turned around with her paw raised ready to slash Skye.

"Not all?" asked Skye reading the rest of the paper.

"There was one survivor," said Skye.

"His mother who had managed to survive her ordeal," said the librarian.

"There's two?!" asked Skye.

She turned around and saw the librarian transformed into what now was a ravenous werewolf.

"What kind of boy can't survive without mommy dearest?" asked the librarian before she was completely overtaken by her inner wolf.

Her skin was full of black fur, her teeth were sharp as razors, the drool emanating from within her mouth. She stood at least seven feet tall. Her bush black tail was on the floor, and her feet were twice the size of normal feet.

Skye's color drained from her face and she screamed, throwing the case of papers at the werewolf that was now in the same room with her.

"You! You're Grady's mother!" yelled Skye.

The wolf drooled before advancing on Skye with one single leap.

Skye took a chair and threw it at the wolf, who single handedly broke the chair in a single thrust of her arm.

Skye ran, trying to find refuge in the book stacks behind her.

The wolf growled and leaped onto the tops of the book stacks looking for her victim.

"No! No!" screamed Skye.

She saw a single window to her left and ran to it, but not before the wolf blocked her path.

Skye slid to a stop and started to crawl backwards away from the wolf, who was now down on all fours slowly advancing on her soon kill.

"Why are you doing this?! I never wanted to move here anyway!" yelled Skye.

The wolf paid no attention to Skye's begging. She took a book and threw it at the wolfs head. The wolf was shaking its head, almost laughing at Skye's futile attempt to fight back.

Skye managed to get into a kneeling position.

The wolf was ready to leap on her, but Skye had moved first, out of the way while the wolf collided with a table, giving Skye a chance to break the window.

It shattered into a thousand pieces.

Skye couldn't get out even with the window broken, the shards of glass too big to get through.

Skye heard a snarl and saw the wolf ready to kill her.

The wolf attacked but not before Skye moved out of the way, and the wolf went through the window.

The wolf howled and groaned in agony, bringing itself back inside, its body covered with shards of glass protruding out of its body.

A huge piece had struck it right in the heart.

Skye stood with her mouth open panting hard.

The wolf looked at Skye then fell to the floor, its blood everywhere.

The wolf started breathing raggedly.

Skye knelt down beside it, away from its claws, making sure it wouldn't scratch her.

The wolf looked at her before the wolfs' eyes turned from a solid amber back to a gleaming blue.

"I'm so sorry," said the librarian. She was now back in her normal human state.

She was slowly dying. She looked at the shards of glass in her body.

"I guess this proves my theory that werewolves can die as easily as a human," she said as she spit out blood.

Skye started to shed a few tears for the poor woman.

"I'm sorry too that this had to happen to you," said Skye.

"My dear, stop my son," said the librarian.

"You mean kill him?" asked Skye.

The blood was oozing out of the old woman like a fountain and had already gotten on her knees.

Skye continued to talk the woman before her time was up.

"It's time this curse gets lifted. I couldn't help myself. It's the wolf. It wants blood. Tonight is a full moon. Grady will be at his strongest," said the librarian in her dying breath.

"I'll do the best I can. I'm so sorry," said Skye.

The librarian nodded before she let her head tilt to the left and she closed her eyes, her life leaving her body.

Skye stood up and nodded. She didn't want this to happen. It wasn't her intention at all.

Despite having blood on her body, Skye ran from the basement and out the door and grabbed her ten speed bike.

She had to get home. This was all almost too much to take. At the moment she couldn't have a breakdown. She needed to get home to her family otherwise they would all surely be killed.

What chance could she possibly have against a damn werewolf? They were on its territory and soon they would find out how vengeful a wolf could be.

Skye pedaled as hard as she could, away from town. She looked up and the sky was growing darker and the wind was picking up.

It was the perfect time to hunt a werewolf, or for a werewolf to attack a defenseless family.


End file.
